THE EFFECT OF CONTROLLED ADAPTIVE REPETITIONS ON STUDENT LEARNING IN 3D VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

Research shows that cognitive aids such as audio,video and visual etc can help reduce mental load on students when working in 3D virtual envirments but at the same time it may hinder students' active exploration . Active exploration is necessary when the student perform the same experiment in physical world. The strategy of adaptive repetition is used as a control strategy to actively explore 3D virtual learning environments. However,this adaptation occurs automatically without allowing students to choose when to use the aid and what type aid to use. In this study, a controlled adaptive repetition strategy is proposed where the system facilitates students to repeat a task with a desired type of aid while working in 3D virtual learning environments. Experimental results shows that the proposed strategy is effective which enhances active exploration and students perform better in physical world.